LilyAnne’s Wellbeing prison partnership

LilyAnne's Wellbeing Prison Partnership

The LilyAnne's wellbeing Charity lauched a prison partnership team attended the discharge lounge at HMP Holme House Prison to officially launch our new partnership with NEPACS.

They delivered a presentation about LilyAnne’s Wellbeing and introduced themselves to prison staff, support workers, and representatives from other charities in attendance. The session created valuable opportunities to share learning, build relationships, and explore how community organisations can work alongside the criminal justice system to improve outcomes for individuals leaving prison.

We shared examples of the successful work already taking place in Hartlepool that contributes to crime reduction and preventing re-offending, alongside the strong and positive relationships we have developed with Cleveland Police and Hartlepool Town Pastors. These partnerships demonstrate how early support, trusted relationships, and accessible mental health services can play a crucial role in helping people move away from offending behaviour.

Mental health support is a key factor in reducing re-offending. Many individuals entering and leaving prison experience complex needs including trauma, anxiety, depression, autism, ADHD, and substance misuse. Without the right support, these unmet needs can increase vulnerability, poor decision-making, and the likelihood of returning to the criminal justice system. By offering emotional support, counselling, peer support, and consistent community connection, we help individuals stabilise, develop coping strategies, and rebuild their lives.

Our approach focuses on early intervention, trust, and long-term support. By working alongside probation services, prison teams, local police officers, and community partners, we can support people at the point of release and during their transition back into the community. This joined-up approach helps individuals feel less isolated, more understood, and better equipped to avoid behaviours that could lead back to custody.

We also recognise the wider impact of offending. LilyAnne’s Wellbeing supports families affected by offending and victims of crime, ensuring they have access to emotional support, peer connection, and safe spaces to talk. Where individuals and families are affected by autism, ADHD, or mental health challenges, we work to ensure these needs are recognised and responded to appropriately.

Bringing people together with probation workers, police officers, and community support services helps build understanding, reduce stigma, and create positive relationships. These connections can be transformative, encouraging individuals to see themselves as part of their community rather than excluded from it.

Keith Embleton has spent much of his life in and out of prison having committed crimes due to his mental health and lack of support from the system resulting in drug relapses, When he became clean his real mental health problems he had boxed away for years hit him even harder.

One example of this impact is Keith Embleton, who has spent much of his life in and out of prison. Through ongoing support, consistency, and trusted relationships, Keith has been able to begin building stability, engage with support services, and work towards a different future. His journey highlights how the right support at the right time can create real change.

Keith has never been far away from crime and drugs since the age of 14. His early life was shaped by significant childhood trauma, periods of homelessness, and instability, which left him highly vulnerable at a young age. Like many people who experience complex trauma, Keith turned to substances as a way of coping, and over time this led to repeated involvement with the criminal justice system.

Despite reaching very low points in his life, and experiencing cycles of relapse and re-offending linked to addiction, Keith has continued to show a desire to change. He is now focused on trying to improve his mental health, access support, and move away from a life of crime.

Keith’s journey has not been easy. He has faced many challenges and dark moments along the way. However, these setbacks do not define who he is. They reflect the long-term impact of trauma, exclusion, and unmet mental health needs.

At LilyAnne’s Wellbeing, we believe that no one is beyond support. We never give up on people, even when progress is slow or when individuals stumble. Our role is to continue walking alongside people like Keith, offering consistent, non-judgemental mental health support, encouragement, and practical help.

By supporting mental health, building trust, and creating safe spaces, we aim to reduce the risk of further offending and help people find safer, more positive paths forward. Keith’s determination to keep trying, even after setbacks, reminds us why this work matters.

We will continue to do everything we can to help keep people away from crime and offending by addressing the root causes, supporting their mental wellbeing, and believing in their potential to change.

We remain committed to strengthening partnerships across Hartlepool and the wider North East, developing collaborative approaches that reduce re-offending, improve mental wellbeing, and help people move forward with hope, purpose, and dignity.